Republican veepstakes: No game changer need apply

Commentary: Portman would reinforce economic savvy on ticket

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — It is probably way too early to start speculating about Mitt Romney’s choice for vice presidential candidate, but everyone’s doing it.

The speculation itself tells you a lot about the shift in the Republican Party machine into general-election mode. Having pretty much settled on the candidate they think has a chance of winning this election, they want to seal the deal by setting the parameters for the bottom half of the ticket.

With the disastrous impact of the 2008 VP pick fresh in everyone’s mind after HBO’s timely release of “Game Change,” one dominant theme seems to be anti-game change. A secondary theme is that the choice is too important to be left to a small cadre of advisers working in secret, so the vetting is starting early.

Sen. Rob Portman... possible vice president?

One of the names at the top of the list in the punditocracy is Ohio Sen. Rob Portman. For his supporters, the Rob-Who? component is an important part of the package. He is not New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie or Florida Sen. Marco Rubio or Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, or any of the other more prominent names that have been floated.

Portman is a mild-mannered veteran of Washington who was elected to Congress six times from the southern Ohio district just east of Cincinnati, served in two Cabinet positions under George W. Bush, and won his state’s vacant Senate seat in 2010. He endorsed Romney early, campaigned hard for him in Ohio and other states, and would like to be VP.

Dependable Portman would not upstage Romney on the campaign circuit, would not go rogue, would not whip up extremist crowds into racial epithets and calls for violence, would not be caught out not knowing basic geography in a national television interview, would not distract from the issues at hand. In short, he would not be a game-changing Sarah Palin.

As a former director of the Office of Management and Budget, Portman would reinforce Romney’s credentials on the economic front, especially as the deficit replaces the overall economy as the focus of the debate.

Unlike Ryan, whose draconian budget plan would be bedeviled by the details it currently lacks, Portman has added up the numbers on real budgets and would give Romney cover to pivot away from the unworkable Ryan plan.

At the same time, Portman would complement Romney’s lack of Washington experience. Presumably it is sufficient for one member of the national ticket to have had a real job in the private sector and Romney has that covered.

As the U.S. continues to redefine its place in the global economy, Portman’s tenure as U.S. trade representative is also a useful asset.

The 56-year-old Portman, with nearly 20 years of public service starting in the first Bush administration, would round out a team that could plausibly govern the country — a quality that none of Romney’s failed rivals for the presidential nomination could claim.

Some of the brasher Republicans whose names are being tossed around for VP in order to close perceived gender, ethnic or ideology gaps are younger and largely untested on the political stage.

Ryan, 42, has been in Congress 13 years, but a back-bencher most of that time, getting his first committee chairmanship only last year. Rubio, 40, became involved in state politics in 2000 but took office in the U.S. Senate only last year. South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, 40, spent five years in the state Legislature before her successful run for governor in 2010. Christie, 49, spent several years as U.S. attorney but won his first state elective office in 2009.

The other potential VP candidate who shares many of Portman’s virtues, former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, has somewhat better name recognition than Portman after his short-lived run for the presidential nomination, but he lacks the background in Washington or the economy.

So much can happen between now and the Republican convention in August in Tampa — the economy could tank again, Israel could attack Iran, the Supreme Court could throw out the health-care law with unforeseeable political consequences.

Perhaps at that point Romney — if he is in fact the presidential nominee — will want a game changer after all.

But after the ups and downs and negativity of the Republican primary contest, the emergence of a seasoned right-of-center ticket like Romney-Portman could make for a serious challenge to Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, and maybe even a clean campaign focused on the issues.

Darrell
Delamaide

Darrell Delamaide is a political columnist for MarketWatch in Washington. Follow him on Twitter @MKTWDelamaide.

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